Free Web NovelChapter 17: That’s A Big Spider
Luke continued through the rift, using all the lessons he learned. He was able to perfectly bait out the mucus balls from the spiders and follow up with quick attacks.
Using this strategy, he had already killed three of the 6 spiders in front of him.
Another spitball came flying at him. Luke rolled his shoulder, watching as the projectile barely missed him. Capitalizing on the period between attacks, he dashed in and thrust with his spear.
His handling had improved through repeated kills, making the still monster an easy target. Its green innards dripped down the spear.
The last two spiders hissed while preparing simultaneous shots. Luke took a few steps back, his stamina was reaching a limit and it was easier to dodge with distance between the monsters.
Both spiders released their mucus-drowned projectiles at Luke, but he already knew their patterns. Wall spiders always attacked the quad, while ceiling spiders focused the shins.
Luke sidestepped, putting his back to the wall, before rushing into an attack.
The wall spider was closer and his spear was already in motion. A fleshy tear released as the ichor-dyed spear tip penetrated its furry exterior.
Luke left the spear inside the monsters body; he wasn’t going to let the fight continue any longer.
"Frost Spike!"
Mana poured from his hand, forming the familiar frosty shape. Luke waited until the spider was still, then fired his own projectile. The spell spiraled through the air, before hitting the spider squarely in one of its six eyes.
Its body was covered in a thin layer of frost, as it drew its last breath, falling to the floor.
Luke pulled the spear out of the spider’s lifeless body, waiting for an ambush; an ambush that didn’t come.
Finally, he got to rest. Luke glanced at his lower body. All that was left was red skin and the occasional bit of cloth still left from his pants. His sleeves had completely fallen off due to the repeated shoulder strikes. All in all, he looked terrible and he didn’t feel much better.
His body’s untrained muscles were hitting their physical limit, while he had to control his mana reserves. The rift information didn’t mention how long the cave would be and Luke wasn’t going to drain his mana in case of an emergency.
He was sure that he was getting closer, as the moss-covered cave walls now had thick cobwebs attached. There was even a spot where Luke had to cut his way through a wall of cobwebs just to be ambushed by five spiders on the other side.
Once he finished resting, he continued deeper into the rift. The farther he traveled, the bigger the signs of spiders. Spiders even seemed to be wrapped up in their own webs, trapped lifelessly in a shell of organic material.
These cocoons seemed to grow not only in number, but in size as well. Many of the cocoons were larger than himself. Chills ran down his spine, as he started to hurry for the exit of the rift.
Eventually, he ended up in a large cavern. Instead of it being the exit room like he had hoped, there were hundreds of spider eggs around the room. Each egg seemed to beat, expanding and retracting rhythmically.
Luke tightly clutched the spear, scanning every crevice and crack of the room. Something seemed to be wrong, it was quiet; nothing was guarding hundreds of eggs.
"Defense Increase."
He whispered, trying not to alert anything to his position.
Using his comprehension, Luke was able to control how many times he folded the spell. He opted for a balanced setup that was able to protect his heart and chest, but was more than capable of withstanding a mucus ball.
A low creaking interrupted his observation. Immediately, his eyes flicked across the room expecting to find nothing, but instead there was a large black spider. It was taller than Luke, yet his eight legs nimbly moved in between the sea of spider eggs.
The monster started to prepare itself to spit.
"Frost Spike."
Within a breath, Luke has cast his trusty spell. It pierced through an eye of the spider, its crystalline frost coated its hairy body. He could tell it wasn’t dead, but seemed to move slower.
Luke didn’t even take a second to think about why a monster different from the rift information had appeared.
He didn’t let it prepare another attack.
"Frost Spike!"
Luke aimed for the freakishly long leg of the spider, hitting it and layering frost across its mass.
His mana core was sitting at a quarter of its capacity and Luke could only hope that the monster would fall.
Frost slowly melted from the spider’s body.
Luke refused to blink.
Neither of them moved.
At some point in the showdown, the frost had fully melted and the moment Luke had blinked, a mucus ball had slammed directly into Defense Increase. A few layers of mana cracked, but it held.
"Frost Spike!"
This time he targeted the mouth the spider, but it had already moved. The spell cracked against the moss-covered wall of the cave, creating a spread of frost.
The spider had disappeared from his vision. Luke turned around, finding its large leg swiping towards his chest. Without time to dodge, he positioned the block of mana in front of the impact point.
Luke was launched through the cavern, his body rolled repeatedly as it flopped to the ground.
’This is supposed to be a stable rift, why is there a boss monster here?’
At this point, Luke realized there must have been a mistake in the rift assignments, but he would only be able to worry about that if he survived.
Using his willpower and spear as a crutch, Luke forced himself to his feet. Across from him stood the spider, its eye and leg dripped a grotesque green ooze.
’I will not die here.’
Defense Increase had shattered from the last attack, his mana reserves only allowed for a single cast of Frost Spike, yet a part of him was determined to kill the monster; a part that wouldn’t give up just from a single hit.
For a second the image of Valeria’s smile flashed in his mind, Luke knew why, but it didn’t matter. All he needed was the hope it gave him.
